


The Doomsayer

by Leni



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-08
Updated: 2014-11-08
Packaged: 2018-02-24 14:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2583929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set during 4x03. Regina decides to visit the newlyweds.</p><p>"Am I to suppose that you've had a lot of experience, with sincere congratulations on your marriage? There must have been quite a line of well-wishers, then." Regina made a point of looking around the empty store, then at the door and its silent bell. "Oh dear. I must be very late indeed."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Doomsayer

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Moetushie at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/522961.html?thread=75543505#t75543505). Prompt: **Fragile Things**.

Regina felt as much regard for striding uninvited into the pawnshop as she'd ever done when visiting Rumpelstiltskin's castle. She'd thought to keep her own counsel, and had restrained herself for days after she'd seen the announcement on the paper. But in the end the temptation had proved too much to resist. She couldn't be the only villain who'd had her happy ending so close at hand before it was taken away. Of course she wouldn't be! And it would feel so _good_ to rub in that she'd warned him, once everything fell apart.

And fall apart, it would.

"I know you're here, Rumpel," she called out, just as if she'd walked into his great hall with all its treasures instead of this tiny showroom. There had been only so much 'comfort' she could grant him, and still stay the major power in town. "Your car is right outside, and the protection spells around the shop have been lifted." Remembering how those spells had delayed her and her mother, contributing in that day's tragedy, made her grit her teeth. But Regina still sweetened her voice into that tone of fake worry that she knew irritated Rumpelstiltskin. "Honeymoon over already? Tsk."

There was no answer, but Regina hadn't expected one.

But there were steps coming toward her.

"Well, now you've gone and done it," she said to her old mentor, as he appeared at the connecting door. He must mean to toss her out rather than welcome her, Regina suspected, but he'd hear her out first. He was too curious to do otherwise. "You really married her, didn't you." She gave a sad shake of her head, startled when she half-meant the sentiment behind it. The bookworm wasn't _that_ bad. "What will you do after you break her, you fool - and don't say you won't."

He didn't.

But the girl who followed behind him came baring her teeth, and planted herself next to her new husband. "Out!"

Regina raised an eyebrow. They'd danced to this song before, the little princess with her self-righteousness, while Regina had done the pretty apology that had been necessary to get her cooperation as fast as possible. But now there was no need to crack into the knowledge the girl had learned as Rumpelstiltskin's maid (and who'd heard of maids being allowed to do more around books than dust them? The man was either a pathetic master or an even more pathetic suitor).

"Was I talking to you, my dear?" She gave her the same dismissive expression she'd made when the girl had railed about being let free from her prison. In the old world, of course. There hadn't been much of a reaction from her while under the curse. "Run along, and do... I don't know. Inventory or something. The grown-ups need to talk." She nodded toward Rumpelstiltskin, and met his narrowed gaze with her amused one. "Won't take long," she added, addressing only him.

Perhaps she shouldn't have taken her eyes off Rumpelstiltskin's little wife, Regina thought once she registered that the girl was advancing toward her. Surprised, she turned to face her - and thought she caught the beginning of a smirk on Rumpelstiltskin's face from the corner of her eye; but didn't have the chance to make sure as the girl was practically onto her.

"I said, _out_. If you cannot offer something as simple as sincere congratulations, you're not welcome here." She actually pointed at the door. "You know," she said, shaking her head, "even if you tried I don't think I'd believe you."

And wasn't that the story of Regina's life.

Regina refused to back down. "Am I to suppose that you've had a lot of experience, with sincere congratulations on your marriage? There must have been quite a line of well-wishers, then." She made a point of looking around the empty store, then at the door and its silent bell. "Oh dear. I must be very late indeed."

Love must breed familiarity indeed, because the girl's next gesture was an almost perfect replica of Rumpelstiltskin's most irritated scowl. 

Regina spoke before the girl could start another tirade. "Rumpel, really. You must do something about your little maid - excuse me, bride. Such manners!"

"I like her quite well," he said, taking his eyes off said bride only for long enough to answer. "Just as she is."

And that was certainly pride on his face.

It figured. Regina had bent over backwards to meet his expectations, and Rumpelstiltskin had given reluctant praise at best, and always threaded with even higher challenges and tittering corrections. But here was this girl - this 'true love'- and all she had to do to earn what amounted to a standing ovation, coming from Rumpelstiltskin, was to step between him and a little friendly reminder that his happy ending couldn't possibly last. They'd do the dirty work all by themselves, so it wasn't as if Regina had come to _threaten_ them! Unless...

Regina blinked, then grabbed onto that last thought and inspected it with care. With the quickness of mind that had served her so well, all these years, she tossed aside all preconceptions and took in the tableau the three of them presented at the moment.

Indeed.

She was playing the evil queen, of course. It was her best role as of yet. Here she'd come, trespassing into the peaceful little kingdom with her prophecies of doom, looking for the king for a direct confrontation. Except the king had his own little dragon to keep him safe.

"I see," she said, and couldn't contain a small laugh. Oh, this was too rich!

The girl glanced at her, hesitating at the change in Regina's mood. She kept herself watchful, but just as Rumpelstiltskin she was too curious to insist Regina left right now.

Quite a match, these two were. For as long as it would last, at least.

"And here I was worried about you, you sweet little thing," she told the girl - she told _Belle_ , for dragons deserved to be called by their name, no matter how small and ineffective. No matter how hopeless their cause. "So young, so naive. But you're not the starry-eyed girl I met on the road, are you?" 

She would have patted Belle's arm, but the girl moved away from her reach and glared.

"Which time?" she sneered.

Regina felt her eyes widen, for she recognized any answer had the potential to raise Rumpelstiltskin's hackles. The two of them had made a silent pact to let such matters lie - Belle's abduction, the deliberately botched attempt to bring Daniel back - because they had understood that getting revenge for the old slights would be a never-ending affair. But Belle wasn't part of their agreement, and a man in love - and even an imp in love - could easily lend himself to be the weapon in his beloved's hands.

Quite literally, in their case, when the rumors said Belle now owned the Dark One's dagger - a rumor that Regina believed, since she'd been the one to give it to the girl.

"Is that all, Regina?" Rumpelstiltskin asked, breaking the tense atmosphere.

It _was_ his honeymoon, said the look he aimed at her, and he'd appreciate not darkening the occasion with a battle between their powers.

"Almost," Regina said, taking out a slip of paper from her purse. "What kind of friend would I be, if I didn't come bearing gifts?"

Belle retreated a little, eyeing the paper. "Friend?" she still snorted, the brave little thing, "I'd say, ally. Or I would have, until you came today." But the girl still knew who was the powerful one, between the two of them, because she took a further step back. This time it was Rumpelstiltskin who placed himself between them.

How sweet.

"It was meant for the bride. An invitation to ask for my help, once she'd gotten her tender heart all broken and needed a refuge." Regina breathed over the paper, and the letters on it changed at her will. "But now I think I'll make it out to the two of you." She met Rumpelstiltskin's eyes and gave him her best knowing smile, making sure to add a mocking twist to it. "Just in case it'll be worse than I think."

It was Belle who rolled her eyes at the prediction. Out of her sight, Rumpelstiltskin remained impassive, without denying it.

Regina took note of both reactions, and smiled further. The most powerful wizard in the world, and when it came to holding onto his True Love he was as helpless as a teenage girl crying for a dying boy in a stable. The thought elated her. It stung, too. "Because we could have been friends, once upon a time," she told him, finishing the small spell that tied her will to the promise she'd written and sealed with a drop of her own blood.

Rumpelstiltskin nodded, taking in a breath as if some scent in the air carried to him the details of her spell. Maybe it did, for all Regina knew.

"That's it?" Belle asked, eyes fixed on the burning piece of paper Regina had let go instead of any magic that it produced. Smart, yes, but with zero sense of the subtler magics. Beloved bride or not, Rumpelstiltskin would run rings around her. It was in his nature to take advantage; he wouldn't be able to stop himself any more than Regina could stop holding onto anything that was hers and acting out against anyone who might take it away.

He would trick and he would lie, because that was also his nature. Just as Belle's was to hate being tricked and lied to. Regina still remembered that the girl had been furious at Hook's visit in her cell, not because of the violence, but because of the falsehoods he'd said to gain her trust.

And Belle hadn't expected to be honored, loved, and obeyed by the pirate.

"Yes, that's it," Regina said, and suddenly she didn't feel so happy at the prospect of watching them drift apart. If Belle couldn't have her happy ending, what chances did _she_ have? They were such fragile things, whatever happy moments a villain could snatch for themselves. "Don't bother to show me to the door, dear. I'm sure I can find my way."

The smile they exchanged made barbed wire look welcoming and soft.

The bookworm had teeth, indeed.

Rumpelstiltskin settled for a dismissive nod. "Your gift was unnecessary, Regina. I won't be making use of it."

So he'd let the girl have Regina's help, when it was needed. There was a gentleman in there, somewhere. "As you wish, Rumpel." She shrugged her shoulders and made to turn around, but a last sight of the two of them, standing together and now holding hands, made her hesitate. "Oh, why not," she muttered to herself, heaving a long sigh as she turned to face them again. "Congratulations, I guess."

Rumpelstiltskin looked surprised, searched her expression, but said nothing of what he found.

Belle narrowed her eyes distrustfully. The sincerity of Regina's words must have passed muster, because after a few seconds she nodded and gave her thanks.

 _Better a taste of a happy middle than nothing at all,_ Regina didn't add.

But the resigned look that had flashed through Rumpelstiltskin's face said he agreed with her anyway.

 

The End  
07/11/14


End file.
